Living Alone, Patient Sex and Mortality After Acute Myocardial Infarction

BACKGROUND: Psychosocial factors, including social support, affect outcomes of cardiovascular disease, but can be difficult to measure. Whether these factors have different effects on mortality post-acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in men and women is not clear. OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between living alone, a proxy for social support, and mortality postdischarge AMI and to explore whether this association is modified by patient sex. DESIGN: Historical cohort study. PARTICIPANTS/SETTING: All patients discharged with a primary diagnosis of AMI in a major urban center during the 1998–1999 fiscal year. MEASUREMENTS: Patients’ sociodemographic and clinical characteristics were obtained by standardized chart review and linked to vital statistics data through December 2001. RESULTS: Of 880 patients, 164 (18.6%) were living alone at admission and they were significantly more likely to be older and female than those living with others. Living alone was independently associated with mortality [adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 1.6, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.0–2.5], but interacted with patient sex. Men living alone had the highest mortality risk (adjusted HR 2.0, 95% CI 1.1–3.7), followed by women living alone (adjusted HR 1.2, 95% CI 0.7–2.2), men living with others (reference, HR 1.0), and women living with others (adjusted HR 0.9, 95% CI 0.5–1.5). CONCLUSIONS: Living alone, an easily measured psychosocial factor, is associated with significantly increased longer-term mortality for men following AMI. Further prospective studies are needed to confirm the usefulness of living alone as a prognostic factor and to identify the potentially modifiable mechanisms underlying this increased risk

The evaluating self-management and educational support in severely obese patients awaiting multidisciplinary bariatric care (EVOLUTION) trial: principal results

Abstract Background In Canada, demand for multidisciplinary bariatric (obesity) care far outstrips capacity. Consequently, prolonged wait times exist that contribute to substantial health impairments. A supportive, educational, self-management intervention (with in-person and web-based versions) for patients wait-listed for bariatric care has already been implemented in Northern and Central Alberta, Canada, but its effectiveness is unknown. The objective of this trial is to evaluate the clinical and economic outcomes of two self-management programs of varying intensity that are currently in use. Methods We conducted a pragmatic, prospective, parallel-arm, randomized controlled trial of 651 wait-listed patients from two regional bariatric programs. Patients were randomized to (1) an in-person, group-based intervention (13 sessions; n = 215) or (2) a web-based intervention (13 modules; n = 225) or (3) control group (printed educational materials; n = 211). After randomization, subjects had 3 months to review the content assigned to them (the intervention period) prior to bariatric clinic entry. The primary outcome was the proportion of patients achieving 5% weight loss at 9 months. Intention-to-treat two-way comparisons were performed and adjusted for baseline age, sex, site and body mass index. Results At baseline, mean age was 40.4 ± 9.8 years, mean weight was 134.7 ± 25.2 kg, mean body mass index was 47.7 ± 7.0 kg/m2 and 83% of participants were female. A total of 463 patients (71%) completed 9 months follow-up. At least 5% weight loss was achieved by 24.2% of those in the in-person strategy, 24.9% for the web-based strategy and 21.3% for controls (adjusted p value = 0.26 for in-person vs. controls, 0.28 for web-based vs. controls, 0.96 for in-person vs. web-based). Absolute and relative (% of baseline) mean weight reductions were 3.7 ± 7.1 kg (2.7 ± 5.4%) for in-person strategy, 2.8 ± 6.7 kg (2.0 ± 4.8%) for web-based and 2.9 ± 8.8 kg (1.9 ± 5.9%) for controls (p > 0.05 for all comparisons). No between-group differences were apparent for any clinical or humanistic secondary outcomes. Total annual costs in Canadian dollars were estimated at $477,000.00 for the in-person strategy,$9456.78 for the web-based strategy and $2270.31 for provision of printed materials. Discussion Two different self-management interventions were no more effective and were more costly than providing printed education materials to severely obese patients. Our findings underscore the need to develop more potent interventions and the importance of comprehensively evaluating self-management strategies before widespread implementation. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01860131 . Registered 17 May 2013